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Orcs
, | worker = | worker_output = | rebel = | pop_growth = basic per turn. | standard_units = | racial_units = | restrictions = Available: Available on Shore: Not Available: Orcs can build every building }} The Orc race is one of the 14 different humanoid Races found in the world of Master of Magic. Orcs originate from the plane of Arcanus. Orcs are about as normal as it gets. Their Town growth is normal, their citizen production is normal, and their Normal Units are, well, normal. They have no great advantages and no glaring disadvantages. Orcs do have potential and can build every type of building, though it takes time to accomplish that. Their Towns will eventually take advantage of every possible benefit from the surrounding terrain, although their traits do not offer any enhancement to those benefits. The Orcs special Racial Unit is the Wyvern Riders, but its best attribute is the ability to fly with good movement. Still, Orcs offer a large number of Normal Units from basically every Normal Unit Archetype and can be useful in some situations. Orcs are one of the three races that can build the Warship, which offers possibly their best offensive weapon. Orcs build shamans and not priests, despite being able to tech all the way up to the Cathedral. Description Physical Features Orcs are a demi-human race. Orcs have mottled pink to red skin, compact, muscular builds, and piglike faces complete with snouts and tusks. They clothe themselves and hack away at their dark, wiry hair to mark distinctions of social class or profession. Flying ostentatiously against the norms on these matters is asking for trouble. Orcs are thought to be a foil for humankind, exemplifying what is greedy, myopic, mundane, and boorish in human beings. Their institutions and modes of thinking otherwise match human ones very closely. While physically-average, Orcs have it in them to explore and exploit whatever is available, and ultimately prosper — again, much like humans. Society Most Orcs are laborers called peons. Peons may not be the intellectual juggernauts of Arcanus, but an Orc can train for any task and excel in it. In dangerous territory, where security is paramount and elaborate defenses are not fully dug-in yet, small-time feudal leaders hold sway over them by contract and force. Big cities obtain a new layer of authority, as starts to consistently out-perform swords and heredity, and the Orcs themselves no longer feel as threatened. Guilds and trade syndicates rise up and form a mixed-market economy in Orcish cities; they boost learning and productivity, and tend to offer better lives to the peons in order to wrestle them away from military taskmasters. If a regime is too oppressive, Orcs get opportunistic. Corrupt magistrates and criminal gangs begin taking over the town's apparatus, and production grinds to a halt. In the aggregate, Orcs will build a sprawling, colorless civilization founded on the principle of expedience. Even their shamanistic religion is centered on function. Lowly Orcs worship a pantheon of muscleheaded orc-gods, and congregate at temples to draw solace from the hope that these distant powers will be a little less overbearing than their current employers. The high-ranking mystics are concerned with battlefield support, producing , and increasing crop yields. Such a drab race may not exert much hold on a Wizard's imagination... or it could be exactly what he needs to get as much as he can out of his territory. Army Most of the Orc army are basic units without any advantage and therefore will require more units to defend or attack. Army List Below is a comparative list of all Orc Normal Units. This list shows all units at their first , with no additional modifiers or magical effects. Force Composition The Orc army can benefit from the early access to different types of Normal Units. Orc Settlers Orc Settlers may be created from an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . Creation of a Settlers unit reduces the town's population by 1. Lacking virtually any combat capabilities, this unit's only real purpose is to create a new Orc Settlement, by traveling to the desired location and giving it the "Build" command. Orc Settlers require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Orc Engineers Orc Engineers may be created from an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Builders' Hall for this to be possible. The primary purpose of Orc Engineers is to build Roads across your empire. This is done by sending the Engineers to a tile where you want a road constructed, and giving them the order to "Build". The process takes several turns, and is sped up when several Engineers go to work on the same tile. On the other hand, Orc Engineers make very poor combat units, with only a token Melee Attack and almost no Defense. Like all Engineers they may however assist during siege combat, by using their Wall Crusher ability to bring down enemy City Walls. Orc Spearmen Orc Spearmen may be created from any Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . Like all Spearmen, Orc Spearmen are a very basic combat unit which doesn't pose much of a threat to any serious opponent, though they can become a little stronger through Experience. As with all units belonging to the Orc race, Orc Spearmen possess no special racial bonuses or abilities to elevate them beyond the basic Spearmen template. As a result however they are cheaper to produce, so large armies of them can be created fairly easily. Orc Spearmen require an Upkeep Cost of only to maintain. Orc Swordsmen Orc Swordsmen may be created at an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain both a Barracks and a Smithy for this to be possible. Like all Swordsmen, Orc Swordsmen are a fairly basic combat unit, capable of holding its own in a fight with other Normal Units, especially after gaining some Experience. It also enjoys a Large Shield bonus which gives it some protection from Ranged Attacks. As with all units belonging to the Orc race, Orc Swordsmen possess no special racial bonuses or abilities to elevate them beyond the basic Swordsmen template. As a result however they are cheaper to produce, so large armies of them can be created fairly easily. Orc Swordsmen require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Orc Halberdiers Orc Halberdiers may be created at an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain an Armory for this to be possible. Like all Halberdiers, Orc Halberdiers are a main-line defensive unit, capable of holding its own in a fight with other Normal Units, especially after gaining some Experience. As with all units belonging to the Orc race, Orc Halberdiers possess no special racial bonuses or abilities to elevate them beyond the basic Halberdiers template. As a result however they are cheaper to produce, so large armies of them can be created fairly easily. Orc Halberdiers require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Orc Cavalry Orc Cavalry may be created at a Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain both a Barracks and a Stables for this to be possible. Like all Cavalry, Orc Cavalry are a fast-moving Melee Attack unit, capable of quick strikes through or around the enemy line. Sadly, they are the only Cavalry unit that does not possess First Strike properties, making it a little more difficult to use. As with all units belonging to the Orc race, Orc Cavalry possess no special racial bonuses or abilities to elevate them beyond the basic Cavalry template. As a result however they are cheaper to produce, so large armies of them can be created fairly easily. Orc Cavalry requires an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Orc Shamans Orc Shamans may be created from an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Shrine for this to be possible. Like all Shamans, Orc Shamans provide equally powerful Melee Attack and s, though neither are too impressive in their own right. More importantly, Shamans attached to an army can quickly heal damage units after any battle. They also have the innate ability to Purify Corrupted tiles. Orc Shamans are also somewhat resistant to Curses and other maledictions. Orc Shamans require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Orc Magicians Orc Magicians may be created at an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Wizards' Guild for this to be possible. Like all Magicians, Orc Magicians are specialized Ranged Attack units with some spell-casting ability. Their primary attack is a fairly-strong , accurate over any distance and quite dangerous to most units - even low-tier Fantastic Creatures. Once per battle, Orc Magicians can cast a Fireball spell which is even more dangerous. Orc Magicians possess an excellent Resistance score, and are also incredibly resistant to - but are otherwise fragile. Orc Magicians require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Wyvern Riders Wyvern Riders are a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the Orc Race, and can only be built in Orc towns, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Fantastic Stable for this to be possible. Wyvern Riders are airborne shock-cavalry, and are some of the most powerful Normal Units in the game. They are both strong and sturdy, allowing them to effectively do combat with a wide range of units, including some Fantastic Creatures. Wyvern Riders utilize their speed and Flying ability to pick out their targets and eliminate them. During Melee combat, the Wyvern Riders rely primarily on a Poison Touch attack which can cause significant damage to units with low Resistance scores. The Wyvern Riders' normal Melee Attack is not too powerful on its own, but can still do serious damage to Normal Units. Wyvern Riders require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Catapult Catapults have a Ranged Attack that can be used to damage even highly-armored enemy units, but is primarily used for destroying walls during siege combat at an enemy town. Trireme The Trireme is a Ship which can transport up to 2 units across bodies of water, and can travel at a fairly good rate. Early in the game, Triremes can help empires expand rapidly across short continental gaps or large inland seas. This is very important for Orc empires, particularly when looking for suitable races to conquer before the mid-game phase occurs. Triremes are not very effective in combat. If one is lost, any units it was transporting at the time will sink with it, so it is important to avoid combat. Try not to rely on these for long trans-oceanic journeys. Galley The Galley is a strong transport Ship, which can carry up to 5 units across Oceans quite rapidly. This is a good ship to have in the later game, when an empire is expanding into or has gained a foothold on another continent. This will be important for more Orc empires as they run out of races to conquer on their home continent, or for rapid colonization across the water. Galleys are fairly good in combat, is quite tough, and can be relied upon to transport troops over larger distances. Nonetheless, if a Galley does sink, all units it was transporting will immediately drown. Warship Orc possess sufficient naval technology to construct the Warship, and are one of only three races that can do so. The Warship is an ocean-going combat vessel with very good combat properties. Warships possess a Long Range which can be used indefinitely during combat. Their amazing speed allows them to effectively maneuver while doing this, meaning that they can potentially wipe out entire armies on their own. With certain types of magic, it can also form the basis of one of the strongest strategies available for winning the game. Furthermore, Warships can also transport 2 units, so they can be used as a very safe means of moving entire armies across oceans. They will usually become a very important asset to any Orc empire that has expanded to a remote continent. Citizens All Orc Towns contain Orc citizens. These have the same output of most other citizens, at , per Farmer, and per Worker. Orc citizens look like this: : Orc Farmer. : Orc Worker. : Orc Rebel. Technology Under proper conditions, petty Orcish warlords and money-grubbers can be convinced to deliver any kind of technology and military asset the Wizard demands. The Orcs are a cheap, flexible source of city garrisons, Settlers, and Orc Engineers. This is the only race with unfettered access to all town projects and hardware; nevertheless, the only particularly strong military unit they can unlock is the Warship. This race lacks distinctive bonuses and penalties of any kind, meaning that relative returns on steady urban teching are good, though not as rewarding as it is for races that produce really tough high-tier units. In the end, well-developed Orc cities are much better than the worst and short of the best. Initial and end-stage output for Orc Citizens is compared below, taking into account the extent of the race's Town Building development branches, and assuming a Tax Rate of . The Building Chart The chart below shows all Town Buildings that can be constructed in Orc towns. It also shows the requirements to construct each building. Interracial Relations The table below breaks down all race relations regarding Orc empires. The same values are used for Orc towns controlled by empires of different races. Category:Races Category:Arcanian Races Category:Orcs